Use the correct brand and name

I fully support the vision and desire to bring The Open Golf Championship to Wales (Western Mail Letters, June 7).

However, although Economic Secretary Mr Skates’ argument that he thinks “it is right that if we call it a British Open that it should be hosted in Wales...” is a fair point, there is one fly in his ointment – it’s not called the “British Open”, but either “The Open” or “The Open Championship”.

If he’s going to negotiate with the Royal & Ancient to include Royal Porthcawl (or another Welsh links course) in the Open Championship schedule, he should make sure he uses the correct brand and name.

P Thomas

Skewen

Who will fall at the Farage fence?

THE party manifestos were duly declared and all the runners and riders rambled into the parade ring as they readied themselves for the General Election Grand National.

I say it thus because I am reminded of a recent Bargain Hunt episode which featured an antique horse-racing board game called Manifesto.

The team paid £140, but the experts felt that despite its great condition it was carrying a bit too much weight to be a winner. However, the punters disagreed and it went under the hammer for an impressive £380.

During the programme it was mentioned in passing that Manifesto was named after one of the horses, which in turn was named after a famous racehorse. Curiosity drew me online.

It seems Manifesto was the Red Rum of its day, having raced in the Grand National a record eight times between 1895 and 1904, winning twice and finishing third three times (and that despite once carrying a record weight of 12 stone 13lb, gulp!).

Pre-race form suggested that Jeremy Corbyn’s Manifesto was carrying much too much weight and likely to struggle, especially at the Farage fence (the political equivalent of the infamous Foinavon fence where, in 1967, a loose horse caused chaos and brought down or disrupted all the fancied runners, allowing one rank outsider to tiptoe through the turmoil and race clear).

The Farage fence has a history of bringing down well-fancied runners – Miliband, Clegg, Cameron – so who is likely to be caught up in the mêlée at the Farage fence today?

Incidentally, I trust you appreciated my sneaky placement of the ‘Continental’ melee!

Huw Beynon

Llandeilo

Fund the police and rein in the lunatics

It turns out that one of the murdering lunatics that slashed and stabbed innocent people in the latest London terror attack was previously featured in a Channel 4 documentary about extremist Jihadis – watched by 1.2m people, no less.

How on earth can a televised “murder-ready” nutcase not then be monitored/tagged by the authorities, which would have saved numerous lives?

It is akin to no subsequent action being taken if Jimmy Savile had been permitted, somehow, to indulge his perverted views on national television.

Just like the revolting, masked teenagers who were allowed to brag on a recent Channel 5 documentary about knifing people, the place for criminals and the dangerously criminally minded is behind bars and away from the law-abiding public – and sensationalist TV shows.

People must be held to account for what they say, in the same way that someone even joking at Heathrow Airport about having a bomb in his suitcase will be instantly arrested.

The brain-aching stupidity of letting unmonitored, uncontrolled and untagged individuals with deranged mentalities roam the streets is, effectively, helping to set up the next attack, of which many more are inevitable.

Perversely, this country’s will to exorbitantly fund the bombing and terrorising of innocent people abroad – or to sell arms for others to join in the slaughter – is demonstrably greater than the will to properly finance its own police etc to protect UK citizens from violent – and often home-grown – terrorists.

James Hayes-Carter

Canton, Cardiff

Vote in Welsh interest and force May out

Monday’s Western Mail headline quoted Prime Minister May’s observation that the UK has been “Far too tolerant of extremism”. Mrs. May’s chutzpah is almost beyond ridicule, for it is May herself who was Home Secretary for six of the last seven years and then became Prime Minister. It is surely legitimate to ask why this tolerance was permitted under her long tenure at the Home Office.

Certainly her stewardship has had an effect. Police numbers and funding have been drastically reduced, the prison service has been reduced to a state of permanent crisis with staff morale at an all-time low, while immigration numbers, which cause Brexiteers so much angst, have continued to rise. “Strong and stable leadership” indeed! Weak, vacillating and without a clear idea of how to create or undertake policy on anything at all, more like. The reason May can’t reveal government policy in respect of the Brexit negotiations is because there isn’t one. Her principal negotiators didn’t expect to win the Referendum and appear to be utterly bemused by the complexity of the forthcoming negotiations.

The English will almost certainly foist yet another Tory government on all the nations of the UK – and a particularly nasty, right-wing one at that – so it’s important that we in Wales provide as many opposition voices as possible. We can achieve this by voting tactically in certain constituencies. I became disenchanted with Labour some years ago and my natural inclination would be to vote Plaid, but I shall return to voting Labour on polling day as the only realistic way of removing our local constituency’s present incompetent Tory incumbent. I would urge others to do the same.

A large Tory majority would result in the sort of elected dictatorship we now see in Turkey and Russia. The Tories historically have brought nothing but economic and political misery to Wales. Let’s vote in the Welsh interest, not for the Tories or their crypto-fascist chums in Ukip.

I Seaton

Mumbles, Swansea

Ask more questions on Circuit of Wales

The continued requests from the company behind the potential Circuit of Wales development is asking far too much from the Welsh Government.

Strict due diligence must be undertaken by professionals into the actual current financial state of the company, and its directors.

Too much reliance on the Welsh Government for funding guarantees leaves many with distinct worries on the real outcome and viability. Too many recent projects supported by the devolved body have seen failure, and in-depth questions need to be asked before there is one more.

Nick Smith

Penarth

A genuine pleasure to meet Alun Cairns

It’s easy, perhaps even therapeutic, to be critical of politicians, but having had the pleasure of Alun Cairns canvassing in my street today, I feel it is time to be complimentary.

I am genuinely grateful for him taking time to answer my questions and found he had a way of establishing rapport – something I could only have learned from meeting him.

After he left I asked my seven- and nine-year-old sons if Mr Cairns had their vote, to which they replied: “Yes, because he believes in himself.”

As a family we try to practise what we learned from Kung Fu Panda, that to be successful “you just have to believe”. Having said that, I voted for Tony Blair and he believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

To believe or not to believe? That is the question.

Either way, I enjoyed the chance to meet our Secretary of State and hope that canvassing will always remain part of any campaign.